I just completed Steve Gregg’s “All You Want to Know About Hell, Three Views of God’s Final Solution to the Problem of Sin.” I’m in agreement with others here: All You Want to Know About Hellby Steve Gregg. I’ve long thought (and still do) that Talbott and Parry’s books offered the most thoughtful defenses of universalism. But I now think Gregg’s book would be the most effective one to share with evangelicals interested in competing views about humanity’s ultimate future.
It is the reality that most evangelicals feel deeply threatened by the paradigm change of universalism that makes me feel this would be superior for those in our evangelical tradition. Gregg offers objective accounts of the three major options about hell, followed by a balanced critique of each. He also asserts that he is not sure which view is correct. And I suspect this approach will lower evangelical’s defensiveness, especially compared to whole volumes that only argue for universalism (In a similar way, Parry’s “Current Debate” volume was instrumental in my changed persuasion, because it allowed me to see I.H. Marshall’s best exegetical critique of Talbott, as well as see how Talbott responded). For my perception is that Gregg provides a clear though condensed presentation of the universalist interpretation. Though I personally am persuaded to commit to universal reconciliation, I’d have to say that Gregg deeply grasps the major arguments related to our view, and brilliantly summarizes much of the debate.
At the least, I think this book will entice some serious though unconvinced readers to accept universalism as a view that doesn’t necessarily put one outside the evangelical camp that is seeking to be Biblical. And I suspect that for many, that would actually be the necessary foundational step before they can begin to consider personally changing their paradigm all the way from ECT to U.R. Gregg’s approach left me well impressed!
